How Gardening Can Boost Your Health

Posted on Aug 10, 2015 1:58pm PDT

Think about it—in the Chattanooga, TN area, we have lots of fertile
farmland, which translates to garden land for us suburban dwellers. If
you decide to start a garden, you are forced to be outside on a weekly
(if not daily) basis, tending the plants, harvesting, weeding, and watering.

But how does that affect your health? You might be surprised. Being outside
for lengths of time is good for you in itself—the sun promotes vitamin
D, fresh air rejuvenates your body—but gardening adds a little extra.
Let’s look at what that extra is.

It Provides Stress Relief

There are lots of studies out there proving that gardening reduces stress,
but how does it work? For one thing, sun exposure.
This blog article highlights the fact that exposure to sunlight increases the production of serotonin
in the brain, which is a feel-good chemical that helps us relax. It also
promotes melatonin, the sleep hormone.

Gardening also provides us with an attention focus that does not take any
effort, unlike cell phones and TVs and laptops. Getting outside and launching
into the rhythmic exercise of weeding in your Chattanooga garden, for
example, allows your mind to wander while your hands perform a task that
is satisfying (removal of weeds automatically produces a clean garden).
Giving your brain a break from the norms of being inside will definitely
lower your stress level.

It Promotes Mental Health

And gardening doesn’t just relieve stress. It also helps with mental
disorders like depression and anxiety because it is scientifically mood
lifting. We learn in
this Permaculture Research Institute article that the harmless bacteria
M.vaccae found in soil actually promotes the production of serotonin, which elevates
your mood. That in combination with sunlight is sure to boost your mental health!

In the same article, we see other studies that prove that gardening produces
a positive mental outlook, happiness, and even prevents dementia in seniors.
Need a mood-lifter? Go outside and tend your Chattanooga garden. Want
to keep dementia from stealing your twilight years? Get a garden going
next spring.

It Provides Nutrition for Your Household

And finally, the most obvious health benefit of gardening is the products
of it. When you grow vegetables, everyone in your household benefits.
Home-grown vegetables are usually organic and quite fresh, making them
even better than the produce that you can pick up at the grocery store.
And you can grow quite a lot of different vegetables in the Chattanooga
area that your Chattanooga, TN chiropractor will love.
Check out this planting schedule to find out when you should plant foods like asparagus, broccoli, cabbage,
carrots, cauliflower, okra, squash, and sweet potatoes. And if you still
don’t believe us,
read the proof in this US News article. Growing your own veg is one of the healthiest things you can do for your
family’s diet.

Do you have a garden?

So by now, we hope that if you’re a Chattanooga, TN chiropractor
patient—or even if you’re not—you see why gardening
is one of the best activities you can do for your health. You can
read about more benefits here if you’re still not convinced. Make gardening your go-to move when
you’re stressed out or sad.

Do you have your own garden? Or maybe you’ve been thinking about
it, and we’ve just tipped you in the right direction. Tell us about
it! We want to know how our readers are reacting to our blogs, so leave
a comment in the box below.